BGS Podcast Network Archives - Page 18 of 56

The Travis Book Happy Hour: Graham Sharp (Steep Canyon Rangers)

Posted on May 30, 2023June 20, 2025 by Shelby Williamson

Graham Sharp has had the kind of career any banjo player dreams of. He started the Steep Canyon Rangers in college with a group of friends, immediately discovered he had a knack for songwriting, and the rest is history in the making. Twenty-three years, nine albums and a Grammy Award later, the Steep Canyon Rangers (behind the strength of Graham’s songwriting), have established themselves as one of the best bluegrass and Americana bands of their era. I was grateful for the chance to talk with this insightful artist, play some really beautiful music, and reminisce about our shared history. I hope you enjoy this episode of The Happy Hour.

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This podcast is an edited distillation of the full-length happy hour which aired live on June 8th of 2022. Huge thanks to Graham Sharp and Julian Pinelli.

Timestamps:

0:05 – Soundbyte
0:34 – Introduction
2:56 – On the Carolina Guitar Celebration & Tony Rice
4:26 – “Home From the Forest”
8:46 – Introducing Graham Sharp
10:00 – Interview 1
25:54 – “Can’t Get Home”
30:06 – Interview 2
43:50 – “Coming Back to Life”
49:28 – Fiddle music!
54:35 – “Generation Blues”
58:17 – Outro

Editor’s note: The Travis Book Happy Hour is hosted by Travis Book of the GRAMMY Award-winning band, The Infamous Stringdusters. The show’s focus is musical collaboration and conversation around matters of being. The podcast is the best of the interview and music from the live show recorded in Asheville, NC.

The Travis Book Happy Hour Podcast is brought to you by Thompson Guitars and is presented by Americana Vibes and The Bluegrass Situation as part of the BGS Podcast Network. You can find the Travis Book Happy Hour on Instagram and Facebook and online at thetravisbookhappyhour.com.

Photo Credit: Sandlin Gaither Music Photography

Robert Ellis is Back, and His New Album Might Scare You

Posted on May 25, 2023June 20, 2025 by Shelby Williamson

This week, we bring back an old friend of the show, Fort Worth-based trickster singer/multi-instrumentalist Robert Ellis. We last spoke in 2018 while we were were both criss-crossing the Netherlands. Then he was in full character as the Texas Piano Man, jumping across the stage between keyboards and guitars with cheeky ear worms like “Topo Chico” and searing Harry Nilsson-esque ballads like “Fucking Crazy,” whipping appreciative crowds into a frenzy. After a long pandemic hiatus, he’s back without his lion tamer white tux, stripping things way back to bring us an achingly intimate trance-lullaby of a new record called Yesterday’s News.

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With no jaunty piano to speak of, the new LP uses his tender nylon string guitar and voice as the main storytellers (with upright bass and assorted hand percussion lifting up the songs saturated in delicious tape hiss), diving into the delirium and beauty of being a dad, a husband and an artist who maybe has finally let go of his ravenous ambitions to find a sort of uneasy peace.

As a fellow sleep-deprived songwriter dad myself, the quiet rage and bleary-eyed hope in “Close Your Eyes,” about the long nights spent with a newborn, hit very close to home. Ditto the opener “Gene,” which could be seen as both a moonlit conversation with his young son, but also a fantasy talk with his younger self who maybe didn’t have enough encouragement to just be his oddball self and live his truth. How does he put himself to sleep these days, you ask? He listens to old X-Files episodes… in audio form.

While many things have changed since our first episode with Robert (he now owns and runs a bar-music-venue-studio and is touring much less) his mischievous streak remains (you’ll hear his cackle of laugh pop the mic many times) making us wonder if the lovely title track to Yesterday’s News is both a clear signal of defeat (the relentless capitalist album cycle push is so last century!) and a quiet reminder that Ellis still has so many sharp stories to tell. And this time, you’ll have to lean in close to hear them.

He will be making some appearances at listening rooms and jazz clubs this summer, and I for one am really looking forward to seeing and hearing this new side of Robert’s shapeshifting songwriting in person.

Photo credit: Erica Silverman

Basic Folk – Hanneke Cassel

Posted on May 25, 2023June 20, 2025 by Shelby Williamson

Fiddler Hanneke Cassel has been a big Celtic star for decades and comes to the pod to try and teach me the difference between Irish and Scottish music. Just kidding all you Hanneke-heads! But seriously, she helps me keep some things straight. She’s been fusing all different styles of music for a long time and her latest album Infinite Brightness weaves her signature flowing Celtic style along with traces of Americana, old-time (but she tells me she’s not an old-time or a bluegrass player), a hint of classical, and maybe even Texas Swing, which was how she first started on the fiddle. Well, she actually started playing classical and found it hard to read music, but eventually discovered a fiddling competition and fell in love with the instrument.

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In our conversation, Hanneke reflects back on her youthful playing and how she decided to go to Berklee College of Music in Boston. Once there and along with Laura Cortese and Lissa Schneckenburger, she was at the forefront of a fiddle revolution that continues to this day in New England. She talks about her teachers who connected her to the music she loves most, the importance of encouragement from her peers and the inspiration for her to do the same for the next generation. Also, there are lots of Matt Smith references in this episode, so if you are not familiar: Matt Smith runs the historic Club Passim in Harvard Square, Cambridge and is the center point for many touring and New England folk musicians. There is no one like Hanneke! Her new album is a delight and I’m so happy to have her on the pod!

Photo Credit: Kelly Lorenz

Basic Folk – Dom Flemons

Posted on May 18, 2023June 20, 2025 by Shelby Williamson

Dr. Dom Flemons comes off as older than his 40 years and I think it’s because he seems like he is of a different era. This is thanks in part to his work in teaching and interpreting such old songs, such as his work with the Carolina Chocolate Drops which he was in alongside Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson. Originally from Phoenix, Dom is considered an expert player on the banjo, guitar, harmonica, jug, percussion, quills, fife and rhythm bones. When he was 18 years old, he saw Dave Van Ronk in concert and was completely taken with the way Van Ronk told the stories and history behind the old songs he was playing. From then on, Dom also would give the background of the songs he performed in concert, leading to much intense research for songs and their backstories.

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He began work on his latest album Traveling Wildfire during the pandemic. He wanted “to figure out a way to give the listener a way to process the world around them without being too didactic.” The record is filled with Dom’s most personal songs about his family, history and, of course, interpretations of very old songs. We talk about all this and his strong style game, which, I’m sure, no one is surprised by.

Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez

The Travis Book Happy Hour: Cris Jacobs

Posted on May 15, 2023June 20, 2025 by Shelby Williamson

Cris Jacobs is an enigma. The question is always “why is this guy not more famous?” Searing guitar, incredible heartfelt songwriting, genre-defying vocals, and an incredibly positive vibe and outlook; there’s really none better than Cris Jacobs. I asked him to come to Western North Carolina to do a couple shows and it just-so-happened we shared the stage the weekend prior at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, so I was lucky to get to spend a lot of time with Cris over the course of a week. I really enjoyed the music and the interview and I’m looking forward to more music with him in the future.

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This podcast is an edited distillation of the full-length happy hour which aired live on June 22nd of 2022. Huge thanks to Cris Jacobs and Devin Neel.

Timestamps:

0:08 – Soundbyte
1:01 – Introduction
2:46 – Welcome from Travis
3:44 – Monologue: gun predicament
5:19 – “Rise Sun”
8:11 – On Devin Neel
8:41 – On Telluride Bluegrass Festival
11:40 – “I’m Not Alone”
17:07 – Interview w/ Cris Jacobs
28:00 – “Delivery Man”
34:44 – “Talkin’ NRA Blues”
43:20 – “Under the Big Top”
47:47 – Interview w/ Cris Jacobs
59:24 – “Mama Was a Redbone”
1:05:10 – “The Devil or Jesse James”
1:13:17 – Reprise
1:14:27 – Outro

The Show On The Road – Durand Jones

Posted on May 11, 2023June 20, 2025 by Shelby Williamson

This week, we dive into the revelatory first solo record from rising Louisiana-born roots-soul singer-songwriter Durand Jones. Wait Til I Get Over is years in the making. While nearly giving up on his dream to be a singer several times, Jones was diligently collecting songs about his upbringing living in his father’s trailer in the tiny Mississippi River town of Hillaryville, his grandmother giving him the confidence to sing (and also dragging him to church), escaping broken relationships and infidelity, his yearning for a connection to a higher power, and how betting on the music and himself was a jubilant radical act that just may be finally paying off.

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The lush strings and almost Broadway-ready power of his voice on the opener “Gerri Marie” harken back to a time when artists like Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin were creating cutting-edge pop and soul music that could at once get you to hit the streets to protest injustice and woo your new love with total abandon.

Most folks may know Jones as one of the co-lead singers with falsetto-master (and drummer) Adam Frazer of the Bloomington, IN-based throwback “sweet soul” group Durand Jones & The Indications, a project he began out of graduate school (he also plays the saxophone) at The University of Indiana. Starting with their hard-hitting 2018 self-titled record and the follow ups American Love Call (2019) and Private Space (2021), they became a coveted national act and AAA radio favorite, with this writer seeing their biggest show yet, last summer at the Hollywood Bowl in L.A. You would be forgiven if you thought the club-ready romantic earworm “Witchoo” dropped in 1971 not in the height of the pandemic — but the unrestrained Chaka Khan-esque vibes are hard to deny. As I told Jones, that tune got me through a very hard time.

While Jones admits he likes to play a certain version of himself on stage — flamboyant outfits and soaring vocal runs are what keep audiences coming back — at home, he’s a much more introspective character who is a big fan of journaling. It’s the quieter, more vulnerable sides of his story (being queer in the Deep South for one), and the complicated figures like “Sadie” (not her real name) that he renders in full cinematic detail that point to a powerful solo career ahead if he wants it.

Photo credit: Rahim Fortune

Basic Folk – Libby Rodenbough

Posted on May 11, 2023June 20, 2025 by Shelby Williamson

Libby Rodenbough’s second solo record Between the Blades sees the fiddler and songwriter further stretching from the bluegrass and old-time style of her band Mipso. Born in Greensboro, NC, music was just another activity that Libby did along with soccer and going to Girl Scouts. She played violin in her school’s orchestra and thought she’d be a music major, until a college professor let her know that her playing was not up to par with those who studied classical music at a collegial level. She found herself at local bluegrass jam sessions and meeting her future Mipso band members, which led her to discover that music could be a creative outlet and a means of expression.

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On the new record, Libby is processing and coping with the death of her mother, who was diagnosed with an incurable cancer and died about 5 months before she began recording the album. Created amongst North Carolina musicians, she found herself nestled in a group of people who were also dealing with loss of and serious illness of loved ones. This gave the sessions a heavy and contemplative feel, but also comforting to be around friends who felt the existence and love of those who were no longer alive in the room. Libby is open, honest and real. We get into lady-things and cat-things. Hope you enjoy Libby! Her new album is wonderful.

Photo Credit: Chris Frisina

Basic Folk – David Wax Track by Track

Posted on May 4, 2023June 20, 2025 by Shelby Williamson

David Wax Museum’s latest album, You Must Change Your Life, is the duo’s magnum-opus. According to Wax it’s “THE record… The one you dream about when you first fall in love with music.” David also recently suffered a near-death experience that has totally rocked him and Suz Slezak, his wife and bandmate. We ask both Suz and David to reflect on the events and its aftermath. It’s surprising to hear the very different perspectives of how the event changed them both.

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We also go through the new record, which is about dealing with love and mortality in a way that they have been building up to over the course of several albums. It’s some of their best writing on life and death and love. There’s also this really thoughtful relationship with Mexican folk music as American artists. It’s something they’ve been doing since they’ve been a band and it’s done so beautifully on this record. It was so cool to go track by track through the album and great to have our friends David Wax and Suz Slezak back on the pod!

Photo Credit: Anthony Mulcahy

The Travis Book Happy Hour: Cristina Vane

Posted on May 1, 2023June 20, 2025 by Shelby Williamson

I’d been searching for the right guests for the Happy Hour when a couple Instagram posts caught my eye. Two former guests had posted video of Cristina Vane playing the Station Inn in Nashville. I was struck by her distinct presence, slide blues style, and unique voice. Once I dug in I was also intrigued by her history and the path that had brought her to Americana music. I was relieved when she accepted my invite and it took us no time at all to fall into an easy rapport. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did.

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This podcast is an edited distillation of the full-length happy hour which aired live on July 28th of 2021. Huge thanks to Cristina Vane and Mike Ashworth.

Timestamps:

0:05 – Soundbyte
1:15 – Introduction
2:32 – Bill’s introduction
3:50 – “Gentle on My Mind”
7:10 – Mike & Travis rap about John Hartford
8:00 – Monologue
10:03 – “I Will Lead You Home”
13:05 – Interview w/ Cristina Vane
29:34 – “Prayer for the Blind”
32:00 – “Heaven Bound Station”
34:06 – Interview w/ Cristina Vane
49:51 – “Rise Sun”
52:50 – “Talk About Suffering”
55:00 – “Make Myself Me Again”
58:20 – Outro

Basic Folk – Alice Howe & Freebo

Posted on April 27, 2023June 20, 2025 by Shelby Williamson

Tracking with her brand, “an old soul inside a 30-something millennial,” Alice Howe’s latest was recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, AL. Although the legendary studio has seen massive icons like Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett and Etta James recording their biggest hits, the building itself is quite unremarkable. Regardless, Alice was able to soak up the incredible vibe that ugly wood-paneled space offers over the course of the recording sessions, which was done in two parts. Freebo, her frequent collaborator and bassist, helmed the production and joined us for this interview. The two gave some insight into the way they communicate and how that works itself out in a studio setting.

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We dig into some of the songs on the new record Circumstance, including “What About You,” which comes along with a music video featuring some very playful sides of Alice, including some very femme scenes of her at the pool and on the beach. We got into an interesting discussion of different ways women portray themselves in music, using Bonnie Raitt and Linda Ronstadt prototypes. Not sure if we reached a consensus, but I enjoyed getting into it! We also get into how Freebo is a goofball AND a cool-guy scholar and how those traits translate into his and into Alice’s music. And we leave some space for Alice and Freebo to fawn all over Freebo’s former collaborator, Bonnie Raitt, and her recent Song of the Year award at the 2023 Grammys. It’s always so fun to talk to Alice (who was also on episode 72!) and we have a doubly good time with Freebo. Enjoy!

Photo Credit: Jim Shea